Benton HG tunes up with cakewalk

5- 3A

BENTON HARMONY GROVE 35, HORATIO 3

HASKELL — Benton Harmony Grove scored on its first five possessions to defeat Horatio 35- 3 on Thursday night at Sikes Field.

The victory secured the third seed from the 5- 3A Conference for Benton Harmony Grove ( 7- 3, 5- 2 5- 3A).

“We are finally where we want to be,” Benton Harmony Grove Coach Paul Calley said. “We want to play good football and execute, and we did that. It was a great first half of football on both sides of the ball. We took care of business and that was big.”

Benton Harmony Grove quarterback Hunter Hilson completed 11 of 16 passes for 159 yards and 4 touchdowns as his team grabbed a 35- 0 lead over Horatio in the first half.

Hilson ran for a 30- yard score four plays into Benton Harmony Grove’s first possession of the game. After a Horatio fumble, Hilson threw a 15- yard touchdown to Sean Small and Benton Harmony Grove led 14- 0 in the first three minutes.

Jake Brooks capped a 16play Benton Harmony Grove drive with a 2- yard touchdown run and a 21- 0 lead early in the second quarter. After Hilson threw a 29- yard completion to Small, Brooks added a 10- yard touchdown run to put Benton Harmony Grove up 28- 0.

A pass interference penalty on Horatio set up an 18yard touchdown pass from Hilson to Brooks with five seconds left in the first half as Benton Harmony Grove triggered the mercy rule.

“I wanted to get a drive in the second half, but the way things fell, it was over,” Calley said. “These guys are fired up for the playoffs. We have everyone back that we can have. We are ready to make a run.”

Victor Enriquez kicked a 30- yard field goal in the third quarter for Horatio ( 55, 3- 4).